He rolled toward her, his eyes gleaming in the dark, then reached for her nightgown and tugged at it. She held her breath as he pulled it up, but rather than her feeling a rush of cold over her exposed legs, her skin seemed to burn with the heat from his body. He lifted a hand, and she let out a soft cry at the unexpected tenderness with which he touched her cheek, caressing her skin with his thumb. He began to withdraw his hand, and she caught his wrist, arching her back to lean into his touch, seeking comfort from the tenderness.
“Please…” she whispered.
Without friends or family—without anyone who had ever loved or cared for her—even the slightest sign of friendship was like an oasis in a desert of loneliness. And if that was all that he could give her, thenshe would treasure it.
“P-please, my lord…”
He stiffened as she uttered the plea once more. Then he pulled her nightgown further up, exposing her naked body.
Just relax, Olivia, and you’ll be well.
With Eleanor’s reassurance in her ears, Olivia swallowed her fears and lay still, conquering her instinct to flee.
Her husband rose up, a dark shadow swelling in the air before her. Then, in a swift, sharp movement, he tore her nightgown apart and climbed on top of her. A shock of horror rippled through her as he grasped her thighs.
Surely this couldn’t be the tender pleasure that Eleanor spoke of?
“What’s happening?” she cried, growing rigid with fear.
He pushed her thighs apart.
“My lord!” she cried, shame and embarrassment swamping her senses. “Wh-what are youdoing?”
He parted her thighs wider, and she let out a scream.
“No!”
He jerked back as if she’d struck him.
“M-my lord!” she sobbed. “I-I don’t know what…” She broke off, shaking as she drew in a ragged breath. “I-I mean…I haven’t…” She shook her head. “F-forgive me… I-is it supposed to be like…that?”
He drew in a sharp breath, then leaped off the bed. He approached the door, then she cried out as he rammed his fist into the wall.
“Stop!” she cried. “Don’t hurt yourself!”
He let out a sharp huff and turned toward her.
“Please!” she said. “Tell me what’s wrong. What must I do?”
He raised his arm and raked it through his hair. Then he approached the fireplace and crouched beside it. She caught a flare of light, then he held up a lit candle, and she let out a whimper.
His body glowed in the light of the candle—the sharp, chiseled features of his face, the broad shoulders and sculpted arms, and theplanes of muscles on his chest, nestled together in pairs. A thin layer of downy, dark hair covered his chest, growing thicker lower down, toward a thatch of dark curls from which jutted out…
Oh, sweet, sweet Lord!Even in her mind she couldn’t bring herself to voice it.
And he was going to putthatinside her?
B-but it was so…
Sobig.
He narrowed his eyes and lowered his gaze to that part of him which seemed to shift and throb in the candlelight with a primal need, as if it beckoned to her.
Heaven save me…
A low growl reverberated in his chest—a predator readying himself to devour his mate.
Olivia glanced about the chamber, but there was no escape. He was blocking her access to the door. In any case, she belonged to him now. She had vowed, before the Almighty, to honor and obey him.
